Getchell withstands MP’s late surge in 75-67 win

MARYSVILLE — The day is called Marysville Madness and Saturday night’s finale to the day-long event that culminated in boys and girls basketball games at Marysville Getchell High School lived up to the name.

After the Marysville Pilchuck girls ran away with the opening act 73-25, Getchell got revenge in the boys game, holding on for a 75-67 win.

Getchell coach Corby Schuh was one of the voices that argued for the event that played out with such a festive atmosphere.

“I think its great for our community,” Schuh said, of why he pushed for a change in the schedule that originally had the boys and girls playing the same night in opposing gyms. “It’s good for both sides … I think it was cool. A good little atmosphere.”

The Getchell boys (4-5 league, 6-10 overall) held off a feisty Pilchuck (0-9, 0-16) team that looked nothing like a winless opponent on the road.

“I definitely felt that they came for us,” Getchell’s Nathen Grimm said. “Being a cross-town rival they wanted blood. Because of the last one (earlier this season) they wanted revenge.” Grimm finished with 33 points to lead all scorers.

MP held the halftime edge 32-31, which was its first lead since 2-1, but the Chargers retook the lead and slowly built a 13-point advantage thanks to Grimm.

The junior guard did it all offensively for the Chargers, hitting 3s, driving the lane for contested buckets and converting 11 free throws on the night.

His drive and bank off the glass with 3:44 to play in the game gave the Chargers what seemed like an insurmountable 67-54 advantage.

“He’s had a lot of playing time and a lot of experience and it definitely paid off tonight,” Schuh said of his shooting guard who started as a point guard last year. “You could tell he was calm, cool, collected. Made good decisions. He played really well and stepped up huge.”

MP rode Michael Painter, who led the team with 22 points, for most of the game, but the sophomore guard began to tire under the pressure of the Getchell defense in the fourth quarter.

Pilchuck lost the first game between the teams 57-49 and could have easily packed this one in as well, but Dante Fields wouldn’t let the Tommies give up.

Fields scored seven of his 14 points in the next 1:36 on hustle plays and free throws as the Tommies chopped nine points off the Getchell lead. The Chargers floundered a bit trying to protect a large late-game lead for the first time.

“The (six) wins that we have I think we’ve come from behind in all of them except for the first time against MP. So we haven’t been in a situation where we’ve been up and trying to stay up is definitely a challenge for us. It’s something we want to learn from.”

With the lead just 67-63 and 1:13 to play, Grimm went to work, driving the lane, drawing a foul and sinking the bucket to break the hearts of the Tommies.

“If I have the ball then my job is to drive,” Grimm said. Offensively I’m looking to assist but if I know that this guy in front of me is not capable of taking me then I’m going to take it.”

He converted the 3-point play to make it 70-63.

The Chargers sank 5-of-6 free throws down the stretch to hold of MP, which pushed until the final seconds.

“We told the guys throw the records out the window,” Schuh said. “It’s a rivalry game. They are going to come ready to play. Our guys showed up and played really hard defensively and did some good things. We finished it out so it’s definitely a good win.”

The Chargers now look to secure second place in the Wesco 3A North after pulling into a tie with Oak Harbor. It would be MG’s first trip to the district playoffs in school history.

“That last game of the year versus Oak Harbor could be big for us,” Schuh said. “We want to push ourselves to be top two at Wesco 3A North.”